How Do I File Head of Household on My Tax Return?

The Head of Household filing status is for unmarried individuals who provide a home for a qualifying person. This status is advantageous compared to filing as Single, as it offers a larger standard deduction and more favorable tax brackets. For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction for Head of Household is projected to be $22,500, which is higher than the $15,000 for single filers.

These benefits lead to a lower overall tax liability, providing financial relief for those who bear the primary costs of maintaining a household for a dependent. The rules for eligibility must be met to qualify.

Eligibility Requirements for Head of Household

To qualify for the Head of Household filing status, a taxpayer must satisfy an unmarried test and a home upkeep test, in addition to having a qualifying person.

You are considered unmarried if you are single, divorced, or legally separated under a separate maintenance decree on the last day of the tax year. A legally married taxpayer may be “considered unmarried” if they file a separate tax return from their spouse, pay more than half the cost of keeping up their home for the year, and their spouse did not live in the home during the last six months of the tax year. Temporary absences for school, military deployment, or medical treatment do not count as the spouse living apart.

The home upkeep test requires that you pay more than half of the total costs of maintaining a home for the year. Qualifying expenses include rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, home insurance, repairs, utilities, and food consumed within the home.

For example, if the total cost of running a household for a year was $30,000, the taxpayer must have paid more than $15,000 of these costs from their own funds. Funds from public assistance programs used for these expenses are included in the total cost calculation but do not count as paid by the taxpayer.

Rules for a Qualifying Person

A qualifying person is required to file as Head of Household. This person must be either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative.

Qualifying Child

For an individual to be your qualifying child, they must pass four tests.

• Relationship: The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
• Age: The child must be under age 19 at the end of the year, a full-time student under age 24, or any age if permanently and totally disabled.
• Residency: The child must have lived with you in the home for more than half of the year.
• Support: The child must not have provided more than half of their own support for the year.

In situations where a child could be a qualifying child for more than one person, such as for divorced parents, specific “tie-breaker” rules apply to determine who can claim the child.

Qualifying Relative

If a person is not your qualifying child, they might still be your qualifying relative. This category also has four tests that must be met.

• Not a Qualifying Child: The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.
• Member of Household or Relationship: The person must either live with you all year as a member of your household or be related to you in one of the ways listed by the IRS. Relatives who do not have to live with you include your parent, grandparent, and stepparent.
• Gross Income: The person’s gross income must be less than a certain amount for the tax year.
• Support: You must provide more than half of the person’s total support for the year.

A notable exception exists for a dependent parent. You may be eligible to file as Head of Household even if your parent does not live with you. To qualify under this rule, you must pay more than half the cost of keeping up your parent’s main home for the entire year, and they must be someone you can claim as a dependent.

Claiming the Head of Household Status on Your Tax Return

To claim the Head of Household status, you will use Form 1040, the U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. No special form is needed.

Near the top of the first page of Form 1040, you will find the “Filing Status” section, where you must check the box designated for “Head of Household.”

In the “Dependents” section of Form 1040, you must enter the name of your qualifying person. You will also need to provide their Social Security number and their relationship to you. If your qualifying person is a child who qualifies for the Child Tax Credit, you will check the corresponding box in this section.

A custodial parent may be eligible to file as Head of Household even if they have released the claim to a dependency exemption for their child to the noncustodial parent. In this case, the custodial parent can still check the Head of Household box if they meet all other requirements, but they would not list the child as a dependent on their return.